By Dr Ong Say How

I was anxious and restless when I went on a holiday recently.

I had begun to fret that I might miss important e-mail because I had no access to a computer.

Many people have reached the stage where cellphones, PDAs, computers and the Internet have impacted their lives in a tremendous - and irreversible - way.

There are already suggestions that excessive use of such Web-linked gadgets can lead to dependency or even an addiction.

It's still a controversial debate. Some studies claim that the use of computers beyond 28 hours a week in 'non-essential chores" could be regarded as some form of dependency. That's about four hours or more a day of computer gaming and non-essential Internet surfing.

However, the question remains as to whether computer dependency is a social problem or a mental disorder.

Regardless, with respect to children and young people, this phenomenon - almost unheard of five years ago - has many emotional, behavioural and psychological ramifications.

What's real is that I now see more and more young people at my clinic for problematic use of the computer and Internet.

My own view is that 'pure" cyber-addiction is probably uncommon. Many of my young patients experience some psychiatric or psychological symptoms.

One month ago, a bright teenage boy was referred to my clinic. He had become violent towards his parents when they stopped him from playing his favourite online games. Driven to despair, his parents finally literally pulled the plug - from the socket.

He went berserk and struck his parents, something he had never done before.

I questioned him and found him to be an introverted and socially awkward teen with few friends. Relating to other people through online gaming or Internet chatlines was easier for him.

I suggested social skills and time management training, among other behavioural strategies to cope with his dependence.

At my suggestion, his parents used computer time as an incentive to get him to leave his room for daily activities like family meals and outings.

The therapy worked well - the teen realised that hurting his family was not what he had wanted and he was motivated to control his computer usage.

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